Do I Regret Being 'Just' a Software Engineer?

It's funny you mention this. I did door-to-door sales for a bit and that's what provoked this post. I worked tech to get a check but the _mentality_ of folks outside of tech and in (which I imagine is the same gap that folks in finance, insurance, etc have) gave me a bit of pause when I was thinking about my tenure here.

Re: Do I Regret Being 'Just' a Software Engineer?

#6

Post by jackyalcine » Sat, Jun 29, 2024, 11:49 AM UTC

mmaniac wrote: post #4

[flagged]

That's how I responded when Lyft gave me stock options. You saw how that went down.

Re: Do I Regret Being 'Just' a Software Engineer?

#7

Post by devwastaken » Sat, Jun 29, 2024, 12:17 PM UTC

Tech is much like the fission bomb. Perhaps necessary, but the industry doesn't stop there. It must create bigger. Returns, investment, power, being a have and not a have not.

"Dr. Oppenheimer, when did your strong moral convictions develop with respect to the hydrogen bomb?"

"When it became clear to me that we would use whatever weapon we had."

Re: Do I Regret Being 'Just' a Software Engineer?

#8

Post by jackyalcine » Sat, Jun 29, 2024, 12:21 PM UTC

devwastaken wrote: post #7

Tech is much like the fission bomb. Perhaps necessary, but the industry doesn't stop there. It must create bigger. Returns, investment, power, being a have and not a have not. "Dr. Oppenheimer, when did your strong moral convictions develop with respect to the hydrogen bomb?" "When it became clear to me that we would use whatever weapon we had."

Yeah. I only hesitate when we see people more eager to use things to exacerbate the harms of the world using technology. It sucks because we, as an industry, seem to only focus on the history of business gains and not on the sociological impact of said gains (the introduction of the smartphone and how that played into how people connect - or even what _was_ the first smartphone).

Re: Do I Regret Being 'Just' a Software Engineer?

#9

Post by pavel_lishin » Sat, Jun 29, 2024, 2:15 PM UTC

JSDevOps wrote: post #3

Do what everyone else does. Get into craft beer or coffee as a hobby and slip into a deep depression. It’s well documented.

I think woodworking is also a popular alternative, especially if you've always felt like ten fingers was too many.

Re: Do I Regret Being 'Just' a Software Engineer?

#10

Post by gryn » Sat, Jun 29, 2024, 2:47 PM UTC

pavel_lishin wrote: post #9

JSDevOps wrote: post #3

Do what everyone else does. Get into craft beer or coffee as a hobby and slip into a deep depression. It’s well documented.

I think woodworking is also a popular alternative, especially if you've always felt like ten fingers was too many.

so is abandoning everything for a farm raising goats.